A handheld mobile device (HMD) is a small computing device such as a smartphone or wearable electronic device. A typical HMD includes circuitry and other components configured to access wireless networks and communicate with other computing devices. A typical HMD is a mobile personal computer with a mobile operating system with features useful for mobile or handheld use. Smartphones, which are typically pocket-sized (as opposed to tablets, which are relatively larger), have the ability to place and receive voice/video calls and create and receive text messages, play media, enable GPS navigation, and include digital cameras for capturing images and video.
For example, a smartphone can include a front-facing camera, a rear-facing camera, or both. A front-facing camera, or selfie camera, allows taking a self-portrait photograph or video while looking at the display of the smartphone. In contrast, a rear-facing camera has its lens facing away from the user, like a regular digital camera. The user can switch between front- and rear-facing views. The functionality of a camera can be extended with software that allows for capturing a panoramic image by stitching together images captured by physically aiming and sweeping the camera across an area.
A smartphone can enable users to add a separate functionality or improve an existing functionality by adding an accessory. For example, a separate camera accessory can easily be coupled to a smartphone via a wired interface (e.g., universal serial bus (USB) connection) or wireless interface (e.g., Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH, SIBEAM connector). As such, the smartphone can control operations of the camera accessory. The user can typically control the operations of the camera via a graphical user interface (GUI) on a touch-sensitive display screen of the smartphone. The added functionality of a separate camera accessory can include views spanning 360-degrees by using wide-angle lenses. Although a 360-degree camera accessory enables capturing images that cannot be captured using conventional cameras of smartphones, users lack the ability to fully and effectively take advantage of the functionality of the 360-degree camera accessory.